


thankfully, there was a cat

by Khoshekh42



Series: Quintus is an idiot [1]
Category: Cambridge Latin Course
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-22
Updated: 2017-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:29:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22838617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khoshekh42/pseuds/Khoshekh42
Summary: After Quintus heard about Clemens' shop getting set on fire, he rushed over to make sure Clemens was okay.Thankfully, there was a cat.
Relationships: Clemens/Quintus Caecilius Iucundus
Series: Quintus is an idiot [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1641865
Kudos: 9





	thankfully, there was a cat

As soon as Quintus heard about Clemens’s shop getting burnt, he rushed there. Fear clenched his heart as he realized how bad off he would be if Clemens were killed. He’d lost his mother, and father, his friends, he’d even lost his dog. He’d lost everyone. He couldn’t lost Clemens. Quintus knew that Clemens had been his slave, but somehow he felt more like a friend. Even as a freedman now, Quintus felt Clemens deserved even more for helping him get out of Pompeii, and get through the misery of not having his parents there with him. 

Guilt came up in the form of a small amount of bile, leaving a sour taste in his mouth. This was his fault. If Clemens lay dead in his wrecked shop it would be Quintus’s fault. He’d been the one that had given the shop to him, and he had been the one to ignore the fact that there were thugs hired to get people’s money and kill them if they didn’t give it up.

Quintus knew of Clemens’s temperament. If someone made him mad, he would go after them, and he wouldn’t give up. Sure he was brave, just like he’d told Barbillus, but this was different. Quintus had just completely ignored his friend’s warning. Why did he do that? Why hadn’t he just listened to Barbillus? He’d been so caught up in the idea of giving Clemens a great shop, in a great location that he hadn’t heeded Barbillus’s notion that Clemens could be in danger.

And now Clemens could be dead.

The walkway was crowded, and Quintus was getting discouraged. He was close enough now that he could see the smoke coming up, billowing in a dark cloud. It gave him uncomfortable memories of Pompeii. Quintus growled in frustration. A couple people griped at him for pushing past them, but Quintus couldn’t care less. 

“Coming through!” He called, causing enough people to shift to let him pass that he could run through them a few more yards. This wouldn’t work. He wasn’t getting there fast enough. 

“Fire!” He shouted, pointing towards the billows of smoke. People began to murmur in the crowd.

“Fire!” Quintus kept shouting. “I have to get there!” People began moving for him a bit more quickly, now understanding his urgency. He ran the rest of the block, now only a corner away from his friend’s burning shop. He rounded the corner, trying to comprehend his surroundings as quickly as possible. 

There he was. Clemens. Sitting in the middle of the street watching his smoking shop, now not on fire anymore. He was holding a cat. 

“Clemens!” Quintus cried, causing Clemens to turn to look at him, grinning. The freedman scooped the cat as he stood up, carrying her like a baby. But Quintus wasn’t paying attention to the cat, focusing instead on Clemens, running up to him, and capturing him in his arms. Clemens leaning into the hug, but kept his arms around the cat. Quintus finally pulled slightly, but grabbed Clemens’s face. “I thought I’d lost you. I thought I’d lost you too. I can’t lose you too.” Quintus realized that he was crying. Clemens smiled, and pulled away to look at the cat. “Thank Isis for that.” He shifted his arms to motion towards the cat. “She saved me.” 

Quintus smiled weepily and pet the cat a little, thanking her for saving Clemens, who set the sacred cat down and looked up at him. Quintus pulled him into another hug, a proper hug this time. Clemens burst out laughing- giggling almost. Quintus pulled back again, resting his forehead against Clemens’s, his hands back on his friend’s cheeks. “What?” Quintus asked, smiling.

“I’m just glad you’re here.” Clemens responded, giving Quintus a sweet lopsided grin. Quintus was the one laughing now. “I’m glad you’re still alive. I was worried sick about you.”

“What me? You know I can take care of myself. Heh,” Clemens snickered, “Half the time I’m taking care of you too.”

“Hey,” They still had their foreheads pressed together. “I can take care of myself just as well as you can.” They stood, staring into each other’s eyes for a moment, before, in one swift movement, Quintus slid his hands to the back of Clemens’s neck, and pulling him forward to kiss him. Clemens didn’t recoil, like Quintus feared he might, but instead smiled under the kiss and leaned into it.

After eventually pulling away, Quintus grinned, blushing.

“I was wondering when you were going to do that.” Clemens said, cheeky as ever. Quintus flushed even more. Clemens laughed, kissed him again.

“Come on. Help me rebuild our shop.”

“Our?”

“If you want it to be.”

“I- think I’d like that.”

Clemens grabbed his hand, and dragged Quintus off towards the setting sun.


End file.
